Digest: Liberty Q4 loss grows

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Liberty Q4 loss growsJohn Malone's Liberty Global reported a much-wider fourth-quarter loss of $197.2 million driven by big declines in value of some investments, but revenue and subscribers grew strongly. In the year-ago period, LG's loss amounted to $31.2 million. Revenue rose 38% to $2.5 billion, or 7% when adjusted for transactions. The firm added 438,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter through organic growth. It ended 2007 with 24 million revenue-generating units, a gain of 4.6 million, or 24% for the year. Of the gains, 3.2 million came from acquisitions.

Mediacom costs add upShares of Mediacom Communications fell Tuesday after the cable operator posted a wider fourth-quarter loss on higher costs. The loss of $36.9 million compared with a $3.6 million loss a year ago. Revenue rose 6% to $332.5 million. Based on the results and the firm's outlook, Miller Tabak + Co. analyst David Joyce cut his stock rating from "buy" to "neutral" and his price target by $1.50 to $6. The stock closed down 5.7% at $4.35.

Quebecor profitQuebecor Media on Tuesday swung to a fourth-quarter profit. The Montreal-based media giant posted a profit of $112.4 million, compared with a loss of $97.1 million in 2007 when it recorded a one-time $180 million impairment charge for goodwill and broadcasting licenses. Revenue rose 14.3% to $964.9 million, mainly thanks to an 18% gain in cable revenue. Quebecor Media's core assets include Groupe Videotron, the Quebec cable giant, TVA Group, the private Quebec TV network, the Sun Media newspaper chain and a stable of cable channels.